Steve Schmidt: GOP plan for Ted Cruz? Canada

Discussing video of Sen. Ted Cruz’s father telling a crowd he wants to send President Barack Obama “back to Kenya,” former John McCain adviser Steve Schmidt says the GOP has some ideas about where the Texas senator can go.

“A lot of Republicans I think tonight look at Ted Cruz and wish Ted Cruz would go back to Canada,” Schmidt said Thursday night on MSNBC’s “Last Word.”

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Cruz helping or hurting GOP?

Schmidt was referencing the fact that Texas Republican was born in Canada, though experts say his American mother still makes him a natural citizen if he were to run for president.

The Republican strategist said the party knows it needs to reach minority voters, and that Cruz continues to lead them off message and drive down their popularity.

“At a time when Republicans have opportunities to really define the policy deficiencies, I would argue in Obamacare, we’re once again talking about distractions caused by Ted Cruz tonight,” Schmidt said. “We’re following ideologues down a policy path that will ultimately lead to the destruction of the Republican Party’s ability to compete as a national party.